- Pakistan chose to bat first first after winning the toss in Multan.
- Host team faced early blow as opener Saim Ayub got caught behind.
- Saud Shakeel, Naseem Shah continue their partnership on crease.
Pakistan resumed their innings on the second day of the first Test in the ongoing series against England on Tuesday, with Saud Shakeel and Naseem Shah continuing their partnership against the opponents.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the national side on Monday suffered an early blow with opener Saim Ayub getting caught behind against Gus Atkinson at just four runs.
However, Masood and opener Abdullah Shafique’s 114-run stand steered the national side to 122-1 at lunch.
The match ended at 328/4 with Shakeel scoring 35 and Shah at 0 on the crease.
The match, first in the three-match series, is being played at the Multan Cricket Stadium and is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.
During the match on Monday, Masood was given a lbw after a delivery by Brydon Carse in the debutant seamer’s second over, but the batter reviewed the decision and got it overturned after replays confirmed the ball had pitched outside the leg stump.
Masood went on to take two runs off Atkinson to race to a 43-ball fifty.
Shafique got a reprieve on 35 when he went for a risky single and England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope’s direct throw narrowly missed the stumps.
Despite missing the stumps, the stand-in captain didn’t give up and dismissed Shafique at 59.5 over, after the player scored 102 runs of 184 balls, with 10 boundaries and two towering sixes.
However, players like Saim Ayub couldn’t do much for the team and ended up making four runs only.
Additionally, the star of the day, Masood was caught by Jack Leach at 62.3 overs, after contributing the most with 151 runs off 177 balls, with 13 shots towards the boundary and two sixes.
Babar Azam aimed for a half century but ended up making runs below 40.
The former white-ball captain made 30 off 71 after five fours, directing towards the pavilion at 84.3 overs after Chris Woakes dismissed the player through a lbw.
Bowling first, Woakes and Leach bagged one wicket each while Atkinson took two wickets.
It is to be noted that England are being led by Ollie Pope in the first Test after the visitors’ captain Ben Stokes was ruled out of the contest due to a hamstring injury in the Hundred League.
Moreover, James Anderson, is not accompanying the team on their tour of Pakistan, as he is participating in the Scotland’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The last time England were in Pakistan for a red-ball series, they handed a 3-0 defeat to the national side back in 2022.
Before that, the visitors had played 24 Tests in Pakistan, winning just two out of them making the 3-0 win much more remarkable.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir
